Fowler
" s/n 15652 of 1920 CU 977]] John Fowler & Co. (Leeds) Ltd were engineers of Leathley Road, Hunslet, Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England who were founded in 1863 by Agricultural engineer John Fowler. Fowler & Co produced traction engines and ploughing implements and equipment, as well as railway equipment. Fowler & Co also produced the early Track Marshall tractor which was a tracked version of the Field Marshall tractor. British Railways Engineering Department locomotives ED1 to ED7 were built by Fowler & Co. History John Fowler was an agricultural engineer and inventor who was born in Wiltshire in 1826. He worked on the mechanisation of agriculture and moved to Leeds in the 1850s. He is credited with the invention of steam-driven ploughing engines. Fowler original sold products built by several other firms but in 1861 formed a partnership Fowler & Hewitson with a William Watson Hewitson in Leeds. Hewitson was also a partner in Kitson & Hewitson, and it was next door to Kitsons works that the steam plough works was built. On Hewitsons death the Firm was renamed Fowler & Co. in 1863. this is very important Fowler's built a vast range of steam tractors, Steam rollers, traction engines and lorries, a number of which have been preserved and appear at shows throughout the summer season. They also built a few Showmans engines the last of which were built in the 1930s. No. 19782 Lion a B6 type in March 1932, No, 19783 King Carnival II in April 1932, with a year latter No. 19989 Onward in April 1933 and finally No. 20223 Supreme in March 1934.Steam Traction Engine The production being mainly rollers and road locomotives in between these. was Yoda's sun Fowler ploughing engines (operating in pairs) being an impressive sight hauling a 5 furrow balance plough across a field. John Fowler and Co, agricultural engineers of the Steam Plough Works, Leeds. FOWLER Original Machinery Types Developed and Manufactured ◾ Agricultural Machinery ◾ Commercial Vehicles ◾ Portable Engines ◾ Semi-Portable Engines ◾ Railway Engines ◾ Reinmaster ◾ Road Locomotive ◾ Steam Driven Engines ◾ Tracked Vehicles 1850 John Fowler, Junior started work on application of steam-power to agricultural uses, in the first instance for drainage. 1860 Fowler entered into an agreement with Kitson and Hewitson of Hunslet, Leeds, for them to manufacture his steam ploughs. Fowler's Steam Plough Works were built on neighbouring land at Hunslet. c1860 Robert William Eddison is a partner with John Fowler in the business at the Steam Plough Works on a site previously occupied by Wilson, Walker and Co in Letherley Lane, Hunslett. 1861 John Fowler, junior, of 28 Cornhill, London, exhibited at the Royal Agricultural Society of England meeting in Leeds. 1861 July. Leed's trial of steam ploughing. Fowlers steam cultivator of 12 hp ploughed and scarified four acres in four hours. It is made by Kitson and Hewitson. Fowler's apparatus which he manufactures in his own factory at Leeds in connection with Kitson and Hewitson. 1862 January. Mention of the Steam Plough Works. 1862 The works were expanded. Around 100 employed. 1862 May. Refers to a locomotive at the Airedale works of Kitson, Hewitson and Fowler. 1862 June. Refers to the steam plough business at Kitson, Hewitson and Fowler. 1862 August. Refers to the cultivator of Fowler powered by a 14 hp engine of Kitson and Hewitson. 1862 November. Refers to Kitson and Hewitson's steam plough works. 1863 Established John Fowler and Co. 1863 August. Steam Ploughing trials at Linton-on-Ouse mentions Fowler's plough and a 14 hp engine by Kiton and Hewitson. 1864 Company now has 400 employees workforce. 1864 John Fowler was killed in a hunting accident aged 38 years. His brother Robert Fowler became a partner in the company. 1865 The Steam Plough Works enters the locomotive building trade. 1865 Patent by David Greig and Robert Burton of the Steam Plough Works for improvements in travelling cranes. 1867 Patent by D. Greig of the Steam Plough Works, Leeds for improvements in railways and railway engines. 1870 Patent by Max Eyth of the Steam Plough Works for improvements in steam engines 1870 November. 800 men were employed. 1871 Making agricultural machinery for Germany, locomotives for Brazil and winding engines for Cleveland 1871 Employing 950 hands and Robert W. Eddison is in charge 1871 December. Patent by David Greig, Robert Burton and Bernard Fowler of the Steam Plough Works re Steam Cultivating Machinery. 1872 Beam engine. Exhibit at Anson Engine Museum. (See photo). 1872 Patent by David Greig and George Greig for improvements in ploughs etc. 1876 Exhibitor at the Royal Agricultural Show at Birmingham with engines of 6, 8 and 14 hp in a new very dark green colour. 1876 Members of the Iron and Steel Institute visited their works. 1877 Exhibitor at the 1877 Royal Agricultural Show. 1881 Employing 1,100 hands and Robert W. Eddison is in charge. 1881 December. The works are badly damaged by fire. 1,500 men affected. David Greig is a partner in the company. Premises are on a nine acre site and border those of Kitson and Co and close to Shepherd and Hill 1882 Patent to David Greig and Max Eyth for improvements in governors. 1886 The name John Fowler and Co (Leeds) Ltd was registered and listed as a manufacturer of steam traction engines. The company, John Fowler and Co (Leeds) Ltd was registered on 13 August, to acquire the business of engineers of the firm of the same name. 1887 Started manufacturing lead-covered electric cables under the patents of Eddison and Tatham. 1888 Robert Fowler died 1888 Building locomotives for an American railway company. 1889 Engines of the House-to-House Electric Lighting installation in Kensington and other electricity works. 1889 Showed a compound horizontal engine at the RASE at Windsor. 1889 Formed the Fowler-Waring Cables Co 1891 Supplied horizontal twin-cylinder, Cornish and drop valve winding engine for Abercynon Colliery. Works number 6029. 1891 David Greig J.P. of the Steam Plough Works dies at Headingley Hill age 63. 1894 Burton-on-Trent Electric light Works. Article and illustration in 'The Engineer'. 1894 Eight-furrow turnover steam plough. Article in 'The Engineer'. 1894 June. Royal Agricultural Society's Show. Turnwrest Plough for Steam Cultivation. 1900 Robert W. Eddison a director of the company died. 1900 Article and illustration on armoured train made. 1900 June. Royal Agricultural Show at York. Showed 'Several fine engines'. 1908 June 24th. Made a Private company 1910 Produced agricultural tractors and machinery. 1911 Smithfield Club Show. Exhibited steam cultivating tackle, road locomotives etc. 1913 'The manufacture of Road Locomotives, Traction Engines, Tractors, Steam Ploughing Engines, and Road Rollers was commenced at the Steam Plough Works about the year 1850, and our modern engines are the outcome of accumulated experience gained since then. Our works cover an area of over fourteen acres and about 2,800 to 3,000 men and boys are now employed almost exclusively in the manufacture of various types of Steam and Oil Engine and Implements, an obvious proof of the constantly increasing demand for our engines.' 1913-1917 For a list of the models and prices of Steam Motor Wagons, Tractors and Ploughs etc. see the 1917 Red Book including the Tiger range. 1913-1917 For a list of the models and prices of Petrol Motor Commercial Vehicles see the 1917 Red Book 1920 Royal Agricultural Show at Darlington. 8-Furrow Turning Plough. 1920 October. New steam ploughing engine rated at 70 hp and 6,000lb on the rope. 1924 Built steam powered lorries until 1935 and built 117 in this period. 1924 William Alexander McLaren of the Steam Plough Works, Leeds dies. In 1927 the Gyrotiller was produced, having been designed to work on sugar cane plantations. Its rotary tines could penetrate the soil to a depth of 500 mm. It was successful not only at the sugar estates but also gained interest from contractors. The last Gyrotiller was produced in 1937. 1927 See Aberconway for information on the company and its history 1931 Produced the Marathon 6, their first diesel powered lorry for 6/7ton payloads. 1935 Ceased production of lorries and railway locomotives. It is estimated that they made between 150-300 of the latter. 1937 The last steam engine, a road roller, was produced. WWII Made Churchill tanks; invented the gyro tiller. 1944 Producing the 2DY diesel marine engine. 1945 May. The Ministry of Supply who are the owners of the company, sell it to Rotary Hoes 1945 June 9th. Made a public company 1947 Acquired by Marshall, Sons and Co including Fowler's mechanised factory at Sprotborough, Doncaster; the 2 companies had major interests in diesel tractors. 1947 June 24th. The petrol and diesel industrial engine part of the business was sold to Associated British Engineering 1949 As part of the Marshalls group, Fowlers were making tractors at Leeds coordinated with the production at Gainsborough; continued to make diesel-engined rail locomotives up to 300hp 1961 Manufacturers of diesel crawler tractors and diesel locomotives. 1,100 employees. 1964 & 1966 Company Chairman is Arnold Carr 1974 Company ceased trading. Fowler diesel engines The Fowler company started looking at the Diesel engine market in 1929,as the steam market declined. Diesel engine development was led by Harry Cooper, who had been in charge of internal combustion engine development at Fowlers since 1902. Cooper was killed in a motor accident on his way home from the 1934 Ipswich Royal show. The company then appointed combustion engineer Freeman Sanders later that year. Cooper had designed the Fowler diesel engines that were fitted to the Fowler lorries and crawler tractors. The production of lorries was abandoned after the 1932 Salter report placed an upper limit on the allowable maximum axle loading, the Fowler lorries were too heavy to carry a sensible payload at these limits. Sanders contribution to Fowler diesel engines was the application of his 'Swirl Chamber' combustion cylinder head. Everything below head level was still pure 'Cooper'. The 6A Diesel engine fiitted to the 75 hp tractor and 80hp Gyrotiller remained as Cooper designed it, Sanders had no input into this design. By 1936 Sanders had been appointed engineering Director. Other machinery Fowlers diversified away from just building steam engines, with machines such as Concrete batching plant, road scarifiers and Diesel powered road rollers. Another product was the Fowler Gyrotiller which was a range of large crawlers similar to the Holt / Caterpillar machines fitted with a rotary "plough" (Like a modern day power harrow). This was built in several sizes. The design was built under license from the inventor Norman Stoey an American manager of sugar cane plantations in Puerto-Rico. The rotary "Cutters" worked to a depth of . Units of 225 hp / 170 hp and 30, 40 and 80 hp. But falling sales lead to the end of production by 1937. War years The firm was engaged in building Tanks and other war related heavy machinery for the Ministry of Supply and was then effectively Nationalised in 1941, when the Ministry took control. Following the end of War, the firm was sold off. Post war decline belonging to S.E. Davis & Son Ltd. collection]] Fowlers & Co. were taken over by the Sheffield firm of Thomas Ward Ltd in 1946, before being sold to British Leyland in 1975. Thomas Ward had bought Marshall, Sons & Co. of Gainsborough in 1936, and the operations were merged to an extent with Fowlers building Crawler tractors based on the Field Marshall tractor from Marshall. Thomas Ward bought Fowlers the firm from the Howard / Rotary Hoes Ltd business who briefly owned the company in 1945 and developed a smaller crawler fitted with a Rotavator unit. This machine was the Fowler FD2 crawler tractor. The company was known as Fowler-Marshall for a period. From the late 1940s and 1950s Fowler's built a range of crawler tractors, the last model being the Challenger 33 of 125 hp. In 1949 they built a rail locomotive based on the Fowler VFA crawler for use as a works loco. Records show 46 being built with only 3 sold in the UK. Only one is believed to survive and has been restored. The is loco was for sold at the end of September 2008, for over £20,000. See Track Marshall for later crawlers that evolved from the Leyland era of the firms ownership. Product Range with 80 hp Fowler-Sanders engine]] in Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills, Leeds.]] in Leeds Industrial Museum Collection]] *Steam Engines **Traction Engines / Road locomotivesSteam tractors **Steam Wagons (lorries) **Ploughing Engines ***Trailed ploughs & trailed cultivators ***Diesel ploughing engine conversions - Transition from steam to diesel power **Showmans Engines **Stationary engines + Portable Engines *Motor Ploughing engines Hybrid design part traction engine with diesel engine power. *Crawler Tractors **Fowler Gyrotiller *** Fowler Gyrotiller 40 - 19 ? - ? 40 hp *** Fowler Gyrotiller 80 - 1927 - ? 80 hp **Fowler 4/40 - ? **Fowler 6/80 - 193 ? - 80 hp Fowler-Sanders 6-cylinder engine. **Fowler FD1 - 193?-47 12 hp **Fowler FD2 - 193?-47 24 hp with 42" Rotavator powered by a Fowler DU engine **Fowler FD3 - 1936-47 ? hp **Fowler FD4 - 193?-47 54 hp **Fowler VF - 1948-52 Built with a Marshall, Sons & Co. tractor engine **Fowler VFA- 1952-57 * Fowler Challenger range **Fowler Challenger 1 1952-55 Marshall 2 cyl. 50 h.p. **Fowler Challenger 2 1950-56 Leyland UE 350 65 h.p. **Fowler Challenger 3 1950-56 Meadows 6 DC 630 95 h.p./ Leyland 0600 95 h.p.option **Fowler Challenger 4 1953-56 Meadows 6 cyl. 150 h.p. **Fowler Challenger 22 1957-74 Leyland UE 350 70 h.p. **Fowler Challenger 33 1956-74 12 ton fitted with a Leyland AU 680 125 h.p. Engine. The Challenger 33 was produced as the TM140 till 1987/8 on show at the Neath Vintage Rally 2012]] *Construction machinery **Concrete mixers **Crushers **Screens **Elevators *Cultivating machinery ** Fowler trailed plough ** Fowler trailed cultivator ** Fowler trailed roller *Scarifiers ]] * Stationary engine (Barn engines) - Small portable internal combustion engines *Steam Rail Locomotives - *Railway Locomotives - Diesel powered Field Marshall engine unit. *Living Vans *Water Carts *Motor Rollers of the 4-16 ton size range Preserved Machines Fowler Steam Engines There are hundreds of Fowler engines in preservation in the UK, listed in the The Traction Engine Register. As Fowlers were also a major exporter of engines to the former British colonies in the 1800 & early 20th century an number survive in places like Australia and New Zealand in preservation and in India, Pakistan, Africa and South America as rusting remains. some of these are being repatriated to the UK & restored by collectors as few original UK engines remain to be restored. Please add any known machine details to the list from the UK or other countries (please note the country resident in if engine is non UK based). Fowler Crawler Tractors 2007]] A few examples have been preserved (pleased add details of any other examples known to be in preservation) * At least one Gyrotiller is in preservation, in the Robert Crawford collection. Robert Crawford being the foremost specialist in Field Marshall tractors. Being a major supplier of parts for all Marshall tractors and Fowler crawlers. * An FD2 is in the Collection of S.E. Davis & Son collection, fitted with Howard Rotavator (image above). * A pair of Fowler crawlers were at Newby Hall Vintage show 2008. * Fowler crawler fitted with Blaw Knox bulldozer blade, at Belvoir Castle show 2008. * FOWLER-MAN (Fred Evans) in South Wales has a working Challenger 33 dozer circa 1956 * The Peter Gaskins collection in ? has several examples:- ** A Fowler FD2 ** A Fowler VF and VFA ** Fowler 4/40 ** Fowler Gyrotiller 40 and 80 ** Fowler Challenger Lifeboat tractor conversion ** a number of latter Track Marshall machines are also in the collection. Gallery of Fowler Crawler Tractor Images Add your machine photos to the gallery below:- Image:Fowler_Crawler.JPG|Fowler 4/40 Crawler at Newby Hall Vintage show 2008 Image:Fowler_FD2_(SEDavis).JPG|Fowler FD2 with Rotavator of S.E. Davis & Son collection at Astwood Bank Vintage Gathering Image:Fowler_VF_rear.JPG|Fowler VF at Lymswold Show 2008 Image:Fowler_Challenger.JPG|Fowler Challenger 1 at Newby Hall Vintage show 2008 File:CHALLENGER_33_001.jpg|1956 Challenger 33 Image:Image needed.png|Add your images here Railway Locomotives Some locations of preserved Fowler railway locomotives include: * Bundaberg Australia - restored Leeds built locomotive Fowler no. 11277 * Changa Manga Forest Railway, Pakistan. Changa Manga Forest Railway ''article at 'All Things Pakistan' '' - accessed 31-03-2008 * [[East Kent Railway] - a heritage line * Leeds Industrial Museum has several locos (see list above) both restored and in storage along with other local built makes. * Phyllis Rampton Trust * Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway See also * Leyland Commercial Vehicles * Steam Machinery Manufacturers * Great Dorset Steam Fair * Steam fairs * Museums List References / sources *Wikipedia *Old Tractor Magazine *Old Glory Magazine *Tractor & Machinery Magazine *Classic Plant & Machinery Magazine *Classic Farm Tractors by Michael Williams *Show Catalogues for engine lists & details References External links * Fowler traction engines * Fowler diesel locomotive (model) * Fowler Traction Engine list * Leeds Fowler 11277 preserved in Bundaberg Australia * Video clip of Leeds Fowler 11277 preserved in Bundaberg Australia * Steam Scenes UK rally photo gallery Category:Agricultural machinery Category:Companies of the United Kingdom Category:Defunct companies based in Leeds Category:Traction engine manufacturers Category:Steam tractor manufacturers Category:Steam Ploughing Engines Category:Steam lorry manufacturers Category:Crawler tractor manufacturers Category:Fowler Category:Leyland Category:Marshall, Sons & Co. Category:Thomas Ward Category:Companies founded in 1863 Category:Howard Category:1945 mergers Category:1975 mergers Category:Companies based in Leeds Category:Hunslet Category:Steam engine manufacturers